SCORE BOARD

CALGARY, Alta. –
Twenty-two of the nation’s best under-18 players have earned the
opportunity to represent their country on home ice at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in
Edmonton and Red Deer, Aug. 6-11.

Hockey Canada finalized its roster Wednesday following a five-day
selection camp that saw 44 players take part in on- and off-ice sessions,
including three intrasquad games, at WinSport’s Markin MacPhail Centre in
Calgary.

“We had an incredibly busy but successful selection camp with 44 players
who worked hard and made our decisions very difficult,” said Brad McEwen
(Whitewood, Sask.), Hockey Canada head scout for men’s teams, of the
process to get to the final 22-player roster.

Team Canada consists of two goaltenders, seven defencemen, and 13 forwards, including
three players who were part of Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team that
competed at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championship in Russia last April
(Byram, Lafrenière, Robertson).

The selections were made by the team management group, which includes Shawn
Bullock (Wainwright, Alta.), director of national teams – men’s, at Hockey
Canada, as well as McEwen, and Alan Millar (Tottenham, Ont.), the under-18
team’s Program of Excellence lead. Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18
Team coaching staff, led by head coach André Tourigny (Nicolet,
Que./Ottawa, OHL) and assistant coaches Mitch Love (Quesnel,
B.C./Saskatoon, WHL) and Ryan Oulahen (Newmarket, Ont./Flint, OHL),
provided input into the final player selections.

“The players who will wear the Maple Leaf at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup are
highly-skilled and fast; this will be some very entertaining hockey for
fans in the building and those tuning in,” said Millar. “We’re looking
forward to a great tournament on home ice.”

Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team will play the Czech Republic in
pre-competition action on Saturday, Aug. 4, at the new Servus Arena in Red
Deer before moving on to Edmonton, where it opens the Hlinka Gretzky Cup
against Switzerland on Monday, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m. MT. All
tournament games played at Rogers Place in Edmonton will be broadcast by TSN and RDS; check
local listings for details.

Newly rebranded as the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the annual tournament is one of
the only true, best-on-best competitions.

Canada won last year’s edition of the event in Breclav, Czech Republic,
besting the host team 4-1, with a squad that included 18 players who were
selected in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft in June. When all of the picks were
in, 77 alumni of the event were selected by NHL clubs, including 19 first-rounders and seven of the top 10 picks.

Canada has won gold 21 times in 27 years of summer under-18 competition.

Fans can purchase a three-game Team Canada ticket package, which includes
one lower-bowl ticket to each Team Canada preliminary-round game at Rogers
Place, for only $99. Ticket packages and single-game tickets can be
purchased online at
HlinkaGretzkyCup.com
.